This issue of the CASJE Research Digest focuses on the term “Zionism”—a concept that has become increasingly prominent in public discourse across media, politics, and campus life, particularly in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza.
We chose to center this issue on Zionism not to adjudicate its meaning (or that of its counterpart, “anti-Zionism”), but to better understand how the term is actually used and understood by different publics. The research presented in this issue highlights a striking disconnect: while “Zionism” is widely invoked, most Americans (Jewish and non-Jewish) lack a shared understanding of what it means, and interpretations of its meaning can vary significantly.
For this reason, this issue shifts attention away from labels and toward underlying attitudes toward Israel among American Jews, exploring how they relate to Israel in ways that are often more complex and nuanced than public discourse suggests.
Access the report on CASJE’s website here.
More content from this blog
- On Cultural Muslims, by Selim Koru – 11 December 2025
- “A Man of Dagestan Would Rather Die on His Feet Than Become a Woman”, by Yekaterina Neroznikova – 11 March 2026
- Three Years of War: The Lessons of Black February That We Haven’t Learned, by the Posle Editorial Collective – 24 February 2025
- Rethinking Palestinian Public Opinion. Interview with Zayne Abudaka – 9 October 2025
- “Azerbaijan Has Its Own Version of the Putinist Slogan ‘We Can Do It Again!’”. Interview with Azerbaijani Journalist Bashir Kitachayev – 30 April 2024
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